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Macedonia

Dr Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) how the International Court of Justice's judgment on 5 December 2011 in the case concerning the Application of the Interim Accord of 13 September 1995 (the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia v. Greece) will affect the Republic of Macedonia's membership entry into the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation; [193391]

(2) what his Department's policy is on (a) the Republic of Macedonia and (b) the Republic of Montenegro joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation discussions during the 2014 Summit in Wales; [193392]

(3) what discussions he has had with his Greek counterpart on the Republic of Macedonia's entry into the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. [193393]

Mr Lidington: The UK strongly supports the decision taken by allies at the Bucharest summit in 2008 that Macedonia will be invited to join the Alliance once a mutually acceptable solution to the name issue with Greece has been reached within the framework of the UN. The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) Secretary General made clear in a statement of 5 December 2011 that the International Court of Justice's ruling did not affect this decision and at the Chicago summit in 2012 the allies reaffirmed their commitment to Macedonia being invited to join NATO once the name issue is resolved. The UK continues to strongly urge intensified efforts by both parties towards a resolution of this issue.

NATO enlargement, including the progress of Macedonia towards membership, is regularly discussed at foreign ministerial sessions of the North Atlantic Council, most recently in December 2013 in the presence of Greek Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Evangeloa Venizelos. The British Deputy Permanent Representative to NATO also encouraged both Macedonia and Greece to find a solution to the name issue during the North Atlantic Council meeting with Macedonian Prime Minister on 12 February. The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), and myself also urge progress towards a resolution of the Macedonia name issue in our interactions with our Greek and Macedonian counterparts.

The UK commends Montenegro's continued progress towards completion of NATO's Membership Action Plan process. However, there is still work to be done, notably on public support for NATO, intelligence and defence reform, strengthening the rule of law and overcoming organised crime and corruption. The UK continues to support Montenegro's efforts, both bilaterally and through NATO.

The UK strongly supports NATO's 'Open Door policy' on membership for any European democracy that wishes to join the Alliance and is in a position to undertake the commitments and obligations of membership to contribute to security in the Euro-Atlantic area. As such, invitations to join NATO will only be issued when aspiring members have completed the reforms which have been identified as necessary and are required of them to meet these commitments.

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Mali

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to support initiatives to (a) combat illicit trafficking across Mali's borders, (b) strengthen the investigative and judicial capacity and capabilities of the Malian Government, (c) reduce inequality and corruption in Mali and (d) reduce military intervention in Mali's politics; and if he will make a statement. [193029]

Mark Simmonds: Many of the challenges faced by Mali are shared by its region. The UK has therefore taken a regional approach to tackling the issues. This has also helped to shape the strategic approaches of the EU and UN.

(a) We are working both bilaterally and with international partners to strengthen security, including around the region's porous borders. The UK is contributing to, and participating in, the EU's security sector capacity building mission (EUCAP Sahel Mali) in neighbouring Niamey. We are supportive, in principle, of establishing a similar mission in Mali.

(b) The UK's small, but active, participation in the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) is helping to strengthen the Malians' criminal justice sector.

(c) The UK Special Envoy to the Sahel, my right hon. Friend the Member for Eddisbury (Mr O'Brien) visited Mali in early March and raised the issue of corruption during a meeting with President Keita. President Keita assured Mr O'Brien that tackling corruption was a priority. The Department for International Development's development programme is also aimed at alleviating poverty and building sustainable livelihoods.

(d) We welcome the decision to investigate the crimes committed by the former military junta. This will be an important process in helping Mali to rebuild an accountable, democratic system.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the report of the Global Initiative against Transnational Organised Crime and Illicit Trafficking in Mali; and what assessment he has made of the effect of the drugs trade and illicit economic activity on good governance, democracy and sustainable development in Mali. [193069]

Mark Simmonds: We have noted the Global Initiative report and agree with much of its analysis. The UK recognises the impact that illicit trafficking and organised crime have on governance and security in Mali and the Sahel. We believe it is essential to focus efforts on improving governance, strengthening regional cooperation and building criminal justice capacity. On 18 December 2013, UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Sir Mark Lyall-Grant, restated this position at a UN Security Council session on drug trafficking in the Sahel and West Africa.

Middle East

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his policy is on the establishment of a UN Compensation Commission to

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compensate Jewish and Palestinian refugees affected by the Middle East conflict; and what assessment he has made of the potential effect of such a fund on the peace process. [193136]

Hugh Robertson: The United Kingdom is willing to take steps to assist in the establishment and implementation of a UN Conciliation Commission as advised in UNGAR 194 of 1948. We stand ready to do all we can to support the Palestinians, Israelis and the United States to achieve the lasting peace that the people of the region need and deserve. However, we have made no formal assessment on the effect of a UN Conciliation Commission on the peace process.

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he last raised (a) Palestinian refugees and (b) Israeli refugees in talks concerning the Middle East peace process. [193139]

Hugh Robertson: I raised the issue of Palestinian refugees during my visit to Israel, the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Jordan in November 2013. We are clear that this issue must be addressed as part of a final status agreement which includes a just, fair and agreed settlement for refugees. I have not raised the issue of Israeli refugees in talks concerning the Middle East peace process.

Occupied Territories

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to Israel on the building of 839 new housing units in the Settlement of Ariel announced in March 2014. [193397]

Hugh Robertson: In my statement of 21 March, I condemned the decisions taken by the Israeli authorities on 19 March 2014 to advance a number of settlement plans in the west bank, including plans to expand the settlement of Ariel. Our ambassador to Tel Aviv has reinforced our concerns at a senior level in the Israeli Government.

Russia

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the risk of expropriation of UK assets in Russia; and if he will make a statement. [193363]

Mr Lidington: We have carefully considered these risks, along with other economic and political risks to the UK as a result of the Ukraine crisis. We continue to follow developments closely and discuss with stakeholders as necessary. We believe that any attempt to expropriate or undermine UK or other international investments in Russia would send a stark warning to foreign investors and cause considerable damage to the Russian economy, which is already under significant pressure. But we do not wish to see the Russian economy veer toward collapse. This is why we continue to argue that the correct course of action is for Russia and Ukraine to talk directly and find a diplomatic solution. The choice remains for President Putin: take the path of de-escalation or face increasing isolation, tighter sanctions and long-term damage to the Russian economy.

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Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the risk of a Russian invasion of the Transnistria region of Moldova; and if he will make a statement. [193364]

Mr Lidington: We continue to monitor events in the Transnistria region of the Republic of Moldova closely. President Putin's decision to absorb Crimea into the Russian Federation has worrying implications for the region, including the Republic of Moldova. I welcome the visit by the All Party Parliamentary Group for Moldova led by Lord Dubs as an opportunity to hear first hand from key interlocutors. The European Council on Monday 24 March reaffirmed its intention to strengthen further political association and economic integration with the Republic of Moldova, The European Council aims to sign the Association Agreements, including the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Areas, initialled in Vilnius last November, no later than June 2014.

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will take steps to extend the requirement to apply sanctions set out in Council Regulation (EU) 269/2014 to all British Overseas Territory governments. [193365]

Mr Lidington: A draft Order in Council concerning the application of the sanctions set out in Council Regulation (EU) 269/2014 will be submitted to the next meeting of the Privy Council.

An Order in Council concerning the application of the sanctions set out in Council Regulation 208/2014 was made on 5 March 2014 and came into force on 7 March 2014.

These Orders in Council do not extend to Bermuda or Gibraltar. Bermuda enacts local legislation to apply the provisions set out in EU Council Regulations imposing sanctions. Such Council Regulations apply directly in Gibraltar.

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will seek an estimate from all British Overseas Territory governments of the value of Russian (a) financial and (b) non-financial assets held in their territories. [193366]

Mr Lidington: The British Government do not request information on the value of particular assets held in the Overseas Territories on a routine basis.

However, the Government do consult closely with the Territories on the implementation of sanctions within their jurisdictions.

The Overseas Territories are committed to work with the UK to promote the application of high international standards and will play their full part in implementing sanctions and asset freezing measures.

Dr Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether it is his Department's policy to formally classify the presence of Russian troops in (a) South Ossetia, (b) Abkhazia, (c) the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and (d) the City of Sevastopol as an occupation. [193394]

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Mr Lidington: I shall write to my right hon. Friend on these issues.

Serbia

Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his policy is on Serbia's EU accession. [193055]

Mr Lidington: The UK remains a strong supporter of EU enlargement to all the countries of the Western Balkans, including both Serbia and Kosovo, and Turkey, once conditions have been met. Enlargement benefits the UK. Expansion of the single market means greater prosperity for Britain. Stability in the Western Balkans means greater security for the UK.

We supported the decision to open EU accession negotiations with Serbia in January this year. Serbia's leadership has shown sustained political will to continue its path towards the EU, and taken concrete steps to improve relations with Kosovo. The start of EU accession negotiations in January was an important milestone on Serbia's EU path. There will be many challenges ahead. The accession process for all countries is long and rigorous, requiring the further deepening of domestic reforms and the promotion of positive regional relations. Normalisation of Serbia's relations with Kosovo will be a yardstick throughout this process and comprehensive normalisation will be required before Serbia joins the EU. The reforms required by the negotiations will also bring increasing stability and prosperity to the people of Serbia.

Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment his Department has made of the business and inward investment environment in Serbia. [193056]

Mr Lidington: The Government agree with the assessment and recommendations of the European Commission in its 2013 progress report on Serbia. Serbia has made some progress towards establishing a functioning market economy, but faces significant challenges to align itself with EU acquis and economic criteria.

Legal uncertainty, the market-distorting presence of the state in the economy and corruption remain problems. Credible reforms to address restructuring of public enterprises and subsidies, as well as steps to improve the business environment and develop a competitive private sector are needed.

As a strong supporter of Serbia's EU future, the Government will continue to encourage, and offer support, to Serbia to address these recommendations and maintain efforts towards meeting the EU's membership criteria in full.

Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his Serbian counterpart on (a) rule of law, (b) business and economic reforms, (c) trade and investment, (d) organised crime and (e) corruption in that country. [193057]

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Mr Lidington: When I met Serbia's Deputy Prime Minister Vucic in March 2013, I raised the need to make progress on domestic reforms, particularly on the rule of law and human rights.

In his meeting with Prime Minister Dacic in October 2013, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague) also stressed the importance of the rule of law and improving the business environment if Serbia is to secure more investment in a competitive global market.

As a strong supporter of Serbia's EU future, the Government raise these themes with Serbia at official level on a regular basis and will continue to do so in encouraging Serbia to make the reforms necessary to meet the standards required by EU membership criteria.

Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received of misuse of Article 234 of the Serbian Criminal Code against the Serbian business community. [193058]

Mr Lidington: I am aware of the concerns of some members of the Serbian business community over the implementation of Article 234 of the Serbian Criminal Code. The UK Government support the calls in the European Commission's 2013 Progress Report for the implementation of Article 234 to be carefully monitored including with a view to a comprehensive review of economic crimes.

The UK, in supporting an EU future for Serbia and all countries in the Western Balkans, will continue to insist that applicant states fully comply with the EU's membership criteria before acceding, including in establishing the rule of law.

Sri Lanka

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he has taken to strengthen the language of the draft Human Rights Council Resolution on Promoting Reconciliation, Accountability and Human Rights in Sri Lanka and to build support from Human Rights Council members for an international inquiry into Sri Lanka. [193332]

Mr Swire: We continue to play a leading role in securing a strong resolution on Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council. The draft resolution includes a call for an international investigation into allegations of violations and abuses of international humanitarian and human rights law on both sides during the civil war in Sri Lanka, in addition to calling for progress on human rights, reconciliation and a political settlement. This is a huge step forward and will help break new ground if the Council is successful in establishing an international mechanism.

We are playing a leading role in urging other Council members to support this resolution. The Prime Minister, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague) and I have led our efforts to secure a strong resolution, and have raised Sri Lanka at ministerial

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level with the majority of Council members. We are also using our diplomatic network to engage with host governments in support of the resolution.

The Council will have voted on the draft resolution by 28 March.

Sudan

Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on the arrest of the lawyer Abdulmonim Adam in Sudan; and what representations he is making to ensure that Mr Abdulmonim Adam receives access to legal advice and representation. [193020]

Mark Simmonds: We are aware of reports that Abdulmonim Adam was arrested for writing about the recent demonstration at the University of Khartoum which resulted in the death of a student. Although we have not raised this specific case, my officials and I have, and will continue to, regularly stress the importance of protecting human rights with the Government of Sudan, and highlight our concerns and their responsibilities in accordance with the constitution of Sudan. On 26 March, I met the UN Independent Expert on Human Rights for Sudan, Professor Mashood Baderin, to encourage the UN to play a leading role in monitoring and protecting human rights in Sudan.

Ukraine

Rory Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many of the staff of the British embassy in Kiev in 2013 were UK-based rather than locally recruited. [192991]

Hugh Robertson: As at 31 December 2013, there were 17 UK based staff at the British embassy in Kiev.

Nature Conservation: Crime

Mr Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the UK meets its obligations on tackling the illegal wildlife trade under the 2014 London Declaration; and if he will make a statement. [193170]

George Eustice: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

The Government are committed to the UK playing its part in helping to tackle the scourge of the illegal wildlife trade and meeting the commitments set out in the London Declaration. We will do this by:

delivering on the UK-specific commitments we set out in the UK Commitment to Action published in February 2014, such as continuing to fund the National Wildlife Crime Unit until 2016;

continuing to work with our international partners in governments and key international organisations to ensure that the illegal wildlife trade has the high level political attention it deserves, in all relevant international fora,

funding activities that will help developing countries tackle the illegal wildlife trade, using the £10 million fund announced by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for North Shropshire

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(Mr Paterson), and the Secretary of State for International Development, my right hon. Friend the Member for Putney (Justine Greening), on 23 December 2013, including support for the Elephant Protection Initiative;

supporting the Government of Botswana to host a follow-up conference in early 2015 to review progress internationally; and

continuing to pursue a Government-wide approach to tackling the issue, overseen by the Inter-Ministerial Group on International Animal Welfare, chaired by the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague).

International Development

Crime: Nature Conservation

Mr Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the UK meets its obligations on tackling the illegal wildlife trade under the 2014 London Declaration; and if she will make a statement. [193169]

Lynne Featherstone: DFID recognises that the international Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT) is a serious criminal industry, one that undermines sustainable economic development in some of the world's poorest countries, funds serious and organised crime, and threatens the existence of the world's most iconic species. As part of UK co-ordinated efforts to tackle IWT, DFID has committed £10 million to support DEFRA-led delivery of actions outlined in the London Conference Declaration.

Developing Countries: Overseas Investment

Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development with reference to her speech of 27 January 2014 on smart aid, with which key industries and professions her Department is partnering. [193452]

Justine Greening: DFID is developing partnerships with several key industries and professions that are important to development, including extractives, retail, financial services, infrastructure/construction and accountancy.

Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development with reference to her speech given at the London Stock Exchange on 27 January 2014 (1) which the major partner companies are that she referred to in the section of the speech dealing with greater engagement with businesses; [193512]

(2) what the role will be of the dedicated contact points referred to in that speech; and whether organisations from civil society will have access to those contact points. [193513]

Justine Greening: DFID has identified a number of companies across key sectors for development, such as Unilever and Marks and Spencer. This includes extractives, retail, financial services, infrastructure/construction and accountancy.

Civil society organisations will continue to have access to dedicated civil society contact points in the Department.

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Development Aid

Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps her Department is taking to ensure that its private sector strategy adheres to the Busan principles on aid effectiveness. [193511]

Justine Greening: As co-chair of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation (GPEDC), DFID is helping governments, businesses and civil society to work together to improve development effectiveness and ensure the Busan principles of transparency, ownership, results and inclusivity are implemented.

Non-governmental Organisations

Mr Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the value for money of her Department's expenditure on non-governmental organisations since 2010. [192860]

Lynne Featherstone: DFID assesses the value for money (VfM) of all of its expenditure through non-governmental organisations (NGOs) on an annual basis. Every project is subject to an annual review in which a judgment is made as to whether the funding is achieving good VfM. This involves consideration of how they minimise costs and maximise results. Achieved results are compared to pre-agreed outputs and outcomes, with metrics suitable to the project and policy area, and organisations must demonstrate how costs are kept at a proportionate level.

South Sudan

Stephen Mosley: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessments she has made of the humanitarian situation in Jonglei and the Upper Nile in South Sudan; and what steps she is taking to support those who are being displaced or affected by the conflict in that region. [193126]

Lynne Featherstone: The humanitarian situation in South Sudan remains extremely serious. There are rising humanitarian needs, but access constraints including active hostilities, continue to hamper the humanitarian response in some areas. DFID has provided direct funding to NGOs operating in Upper Nile and Jonglei states, to provide shelter, water and sanitation facilities and emergency medical care. DFID has also funded emergency logistics to airlift aid works and humanitarian supplies to those in need across the country. The World Food Programme has started airdrops of food supplies this week to both Jonglei and Upper Nile states, in sites with high concentrations of people.

The UK has so far committed £12.5 million of new funding to the response since December, and redirected £19 million of earlier commitments to be reprioritised to the crisis. We are reviewing with the Humanitarian Country Team and donors on the ground how to best reach and support the displaced populations, particularly in difficult to reach areas and within the current security context.

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Education

ICT: Primary Education

Naomi Long: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to improve opportunities for children in primary school to learn computer programming. [193003]

Elizabeth Truss: As part of the reforms to the national curriculum, the Department for Education is strengthening the teaching of programming in schools by replacing ICT with computing. The new computing programmes of study, which will be taught in maintained schools from September 2014, have a much greater emphasis on computer science and include a significant focus on programming. Primary school pupils at key stage 1 will be taught to understand what algorithms are, create and debug simple programs, and use logical reasoning to predict the behaviour of simple programs. Building on this, primary school pupils at key stage 2 will be taught to design, write and debug programs that accomplish specific goals, including controlling or simulating physical systems; use sequence, selection, and repetition in programs; and use logical reasoning to detect and correct errors in algorithms and programs.

The Department is funding several projects to help teachers acquire the necessary subject knowledge and skills to teach the new computing curriculum. We are funding the British Computer Society (BCS) to help primary school teachers improve their subject knowledge through online teach-yourself resources and 800 in-school workshops. We are also funding BCS to build a network of 400 'Master Teachers'. A further £500,000 competitive match-funded scheme was announced on 4 February to support excellent computing teaching and lever additional investment and engagement from business.

Pupils: Disadvantaged

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimate he has made for the number of three and four-year-olds who will benefit from his new early years premium; what the eligibility criteria is for those children; how those three and four-year-olds will be identified; what amount will be attached to each child; how the premium will be administered; whether all early years settings will be eligible to receive the premium for children in their care; and how many years that funding is guaranteed for. [192995]

Elizabeth Truss: The purpose of the £50 million funding through a pupil premium for early years, which the Government announced on 18 March, is to improve early years provision for disadvantaged three and four-year-olds. We will consult on delivery of the premium, including the eligibility criteria, prior to its introduction in April 2015. Funding decisions beyond 2015-16 will be determined in a future Parliament.

Schools: Broadband

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what progress his Department has made on the rollout of broadband for schools; and if he will make a statement. [193446]

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Elizabeth Truss: The Department for Education does not procure and install broadband on behalf of schools. Head teachers manage their own budgets and are best placed to decide on their broadband requirements.

Schools: Computers

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) what assessment he has made of the effects on pedagogy of giving pupils in secondary schools one-to- one tablet computers; and if he will make a statement; [193447]

(2) what comparison he has made with other OECD countries of the effects on pedagogy of giving one-to- one tablets to every pupil in secondary schools. [193448]

Elizabeth Truss: The Department for Education has reviewed evidence on the effects of one-to-one tablet schemes on pedagogy, and more broadly within education, from the UK and Australia. Positive effects on pedagogy cited within the studies considered include: improvements to lessons and homework, characterised by more creative and engaging tasks; more and better quality feedback to pupils; and improvements in monitoring and assessment.

The Department will continue to review international research in this area, such as that being undertaken by the Creative Classroom project of the European Schoolnet organisation. This study is looking at the effects of one-to-one tablet use, in 45 secondary schools, and across eight European countries.

Schools: Finance

Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he plans to introduce his new national school funding formula. [193118]

Mr Laws: On 13 March, I announced proposals to allocate £350 million to our least fairly funded local areas in 2015-16. This is the biggest step towards fairer schools funding in a decade. It puts us in a much better position to implement a national funding formula when the time is right—after the next spending review, when there are multi-year public spending plans, and we can give greater certainty to schools about how the formula will affect them.

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what criteria were used to calculate the uplift of (a) primary and (b) secondary students grant per pupil in each local education authority; and for what reasons Staffordshire received no special uplift. [193237]

Mr Laws: In 2015-16, in addition to funding all local authorities at the same cash level per pupil as in 2014-15, we will add a further £350 million funding for the least fairly-funded authorities. To allocate this as fairly as possible, we selected the characteristics we think contribute most to the attainment of pupils and viability of schools, and set indicative minimum funding levels for each of these. The characteristics we selected were as follows:

1. An age-weighted basic per pupil unit of funding; and

2. Additional units of funding for:

2.1 deprived pupils;

2.2 pupils with low attainment;

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2.3 pupils with English as an additional language;

2.4 children who are looked after, for example in foster care;

2.5 a lump sum for all schools, regardless of size, to help with fixed costs; and

2.6 funding for schools serving sparsely populated rural areas.

These are all characteristics that local authorities already use in distributing schools funding. We looked at the average value attached by local authorities to each of these characteristics and used these as a basis for our proposed minimum funding levels for primary and secondary pupils and schools. As Staffordshire already attracts funding above these levels, it does not stand to gain from these proposals.

Full details of our methodology can be found in the consultation document at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/fairer-schools-funding-2015-to-2016

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Schools: Wi-Fi

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) what the baseline requirements are for wi-fi provision for all secondary schools to enable the use of one-to-one tablet computers in the classroom; and if he will make a statement; [193444]

(2) what the baseline requirement is for wi-fi provision for all primary schools; and if he will make a statement. [193445]

Elizabeth Truss: The Department for Education has no baseline requirements for wi-fi provision in all schools. Head teachers manage their own budgets and are best placed to decide the extent of wi-fi provision. Where schools are built or rebuilt via the Department's capital programmes, IT infrastructure including wi-fi is installed to a standard that supports one-to-one tablet use in the classroom.